The TV Series discussion thread

JDR13 said:

I definitely wouldn't skip Season 2. It's pretty solid. It's just the first season that's kind of slow.

Maybe start from the last episode of Season 1. That way you'll understand how they got to where they are at the beginning of Season 2.

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Seconded.

Well, I've reached S2E4 of FTWD, and honestly, I think I enjoyed it more while they were on land, than on sea. But I'll have to see some more. It'll probably slowly build up to something. The one thing going for it is the setting at sea is not really explored in most zombie movies I've seen. And it's definately got it's particular scary vibe. So, I expect it to get better. The only downside is that we can't see the slow unraveling of society, which I very much enjoyed in season 1.

And if I'm still in a nitpicky mood, I was also a bit annoyed at how Travis, who's a literature teacher and who only demonstrated a little skill in plumbing (while fixing a leak in his kitchen) can suddenly go underneath a ship, remove the dead-dude that was stuck there, and then come back and clear out the filtration and plumbing system of the ship. A bit far fetched, but oh well. It's still enjoyable.

But the main difference so far, compared to the TWD, is the absolutely noticeable difference in zombie prosthetics and body horror between the two. In TWD this was pretty amazingly done, imo, especially in the first seasons. But it still kept the quality bar pretty high, even in the later seasons. But in FTWD, it's like they're not even trying. They're just slapping some blood and makeup on actor's faces, and there, you got a zombie. Could this also be explained narratively by the fact that these zombies are only freshly turned? Do zombies become more and more decrepit as time passes, which would also explain the gruesome look they have in TWD, compared to FTWD? Could be, I guess. But it was among the first things I noticed.

I'm making my way through the latest Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series, and she just met up with Shy after the debacle that happened at the end of the last season. Now, this is where writing can shine or fail, ie, does the character act in a way that you think she might?

Absolutely. And it's F'n amazing. That last shot of Shy, you don't know exactly what he's thinking about yet you KNOW at some point he's going to be thinking about what Midge said to him. People, this is what good writing looks like, with an solid story and characters that stay true to themselves.

Slowly getting through Season 3 of Ozark, and I'm starting to realize how f*cked up this show really is.

JDR13 said:

Slowly getting through Season 3 of Ozark, and I'm starting to realize how f*cked up this show really is.

Spoiler

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The show is amazing. I love it, everything that happens is wrong but they make you like the people somehow anyway.

I started Severance. It's atmospheric dystopian science fiction, which is very much my jam. My only fear is that it won't ever have answers for the mysteries it's setting up, especially since a season 2 is apparently in the cards.

JFarrell71 said:

I started Severance. It's atmospheric dystopian science fiction, which is very much my jam. My only fear is that it won't ever have answers for the mysteries it's setting up, especially since a season 2 is apparently in the cards.

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I saw the trailer, and looked interesting. I got similar vibes to Paycheck, a movie where iirc the main character does a similar memory wipe procedure when going to work.

I want to check out Severance, I've read some good things about that show. Maybe this weekend.

What I did check out last night was the first episode of Moon Knight. Now, most here will know my disdain, my sheering loathing for the current Marvel films, not to mention the horrid Disney telly adaptations. However, with Moon Knight, I was pleasantly surprised. Granted, I've only seen the one episode so far, yet I think they got much right, including the psychological aspect as well as the various personas all inhabiting the same body. Now, I'm a big fan of the comic series, at least the run from the eighties, I had the entire set at one point. We shall see what happens next.

JFarrell71 said:

I started Severance. It's atmospheric dystopian science fiction, which is very much my jam. My only fear is that it won't ever have answers for the mysteries it's setting up, especially since a season 2 is apparently in the cards.

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Never heard of it until now, but I'm glad you mentioned it. JohnTurturro and Christopher Walken? I'm in.

JDR13 said:

Never heard of it until now, but I'm glad you mentioned it. JohnTurturro and Christopher Walken? I'm in.

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Walken's role is very small so far but I always love seeing him. Turturro is great. A very different role than I've seen from him before.

Aye, those are two stellar actors, both Walken and Turturro. The latter did an amazing job as a counselor on that HBO mini-series a few years back, I was really impressed. And of course Walken has only done fabulous work since Deer Hunter.

JFarrell71 said:

I started Severance. It's atmospheric dystopian science fiction, which is very much my jam. My only fear is that it won't ever have answers for the mysteries it's setting up, especially since a season 2 is apparently in the cards.

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Someone told me it's like Black Mirror. Is that how it is ?

Reset (2022) is a timeloop show, it's available for free (with english subtitles) on YoYo's official YT site and Viki.

Loved every single minute of it.
There is no filler and both the story and characters evolve nicely.
As it's chinese, the police is displayed maybe too idealistic which is expected, however you will notice that not all detectives are presented as flawless which is new.
Not only there their draconian censors were asleep, so hard life and living in a garage is in!

One of main duo is a videogame developer which might help me to persuade you into giving it a chance. Just don't expect much blathering about game design as the show is a whodunnit thriller in a timeloop.

One might ask how come it doesn't have 74836537865876358736 episodes like other chinese series…
Tencent. Their production and obviously ment for international market.

Trailer:



An additional note: while of the same name and chinese, this show is nohow connected to the timeloop movie produced by Jackie Chan a few years ago.
Another additional note: try to ignore the ignorant imdb texts, there is no groundhog day, no butterfly effect, no edge of tomorrow, no boss level, no source code in this show - this is a timeloop show completely different from other timeloop movies and series.

Pladio said:

Someone told me it's like Black Mirror. Is that how it is ?

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It's not a collection of stand-alone stories like Black Mirror, so that seems like an odd comparison. Maybe the overall tone is similar?

Pladio said:

Someone told me it's like Black Mirror. Is that how it is ?

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Hmm, kinda? It's long form and not an anthology, so in that sense it's nothing like it. But the subject matter certainly could be a Black Mirror episode. And the tone, like JDR suggested.

I'm one episode away from finishing season 2 of FTWD, and it's pretty good. I liked the last few episodes, and the intensity of the next to last one of this season. The drama with Travis and his son, while not really original, but still very intense and done pretty decently. And it ends in a really visceral and kind of cathartic manner. At least for me, the viewer. The guys Chris gets involved with really got under my skin.

But, still, I vastly prefer the first seasons of TWD, since someone said that they feel FTWD is better. No way, at least not for me. One thing that surprises me is when people say they hated season 2 of TWD, while on Hershel's farm. I've read some say the plot grinds to a halt. I got none of that. I felt it was still very enjoyable.

Anyway, onto finishin this season and seeing what season 3 has in store. I keep hearing 3 is supposed to be the best. I'm curious.

danutz_plusplus said:

But, still, I vastly prefer the first seasons of TWD, since someone said that they feel FTWD is better. No way, at least not for me. One thing that surprises me is when people say they hated season 2 of TWD, while on Hershel's farm. I've read some say the plot grinds to a halt. I got none of that. I felt it was still very enjoyable.

Anyway, onto finishin this season and seeing what season 3 has in store. I keep hearing 3 is supposed to be the best. I'm curious.

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S3 is on a much grander scale, but if you still prefer TWD and can get past S4 which is suffers from having to deal with all the changes, S5 & 6 are great. Talking of changes, the finale of S6 does something HUGE. I hope they don't walk it back.

Another show I've been watching for the pasty two and half months is the Hardy Boys, the most recent inception. The creators here made some smart choices, keeping the show in the eighties (though I would have opted for the sixties or seventies myself), and having a few years between the ages of the two lads. This allows for two separate groups of mates, which adds a lot to the cast possibilities. I've watched eleven episodes so far with two left to finish, which I should be able to get around to sometime this month. So far it's been pretty good.

Ok, first FTWD episode that truly annoyed me. S3E2.

And finally, the episode ends with Madison, basically a school teacher that did handle herself decently so far, but nothing too unbelievable, going off about how they're gonna take over a military camp filled with trained soldiers and other personnel. So stupid. I can only suspend my disbelief so far.

Yeah, that annoyed me. I liked that dude.
Both Walking Deads have a habit of killing off characters and actors that I like, but leaving in ones that annoy me.
There are exceptions: